Excuse Me While I Scream Into The Void; I Just Need A Place To Put My Thoughts…

Excuse me while I scream into the void; I just need a place to put my thoughts…

Mr burns: a post electric play is wacky, strange, absurd - insert-synonyms-infinity - play. It’s about the simpsons but not really. It’s also kind of a musical - but some might argue it’s not… The play is three acts with major time skips between each one which for some makes it a bit difficult to follow. Overall, most people who watch it are left with a weird experience they don’t know what to do with.

It’s also amazing and it changed my entire being in a way I can never truly describe. *spoilers for this show ahead*

I was never really a theatre kid. Instead, choir was the art I was known for among my peers - especially since I did it from elementary to high school. Theatre did interest me but it wasn’t a class option until middle school where -even then- I only got to pick one extra curricular so I stuck with the one I was familiar with and knew I already enjoyed.

However, I did have the pleasure of being a part of a couple of productions. Both are memories I cherish. But at the end of the day, despite my interest, theatre was never a field I really broke into…

But how is this relevant to Mr burns: a post electric play? Well because it single handedly made me understand not only how much I love theatre but also why I do.

The first act opens to a group sitting around a campfire with one of the individuals animatedly retelling an episode of the Simpsons. The mood despite this is tense. It turns out it’s because this group of people barely know one another and are only together because the USA is experiencing nuclear fallout… Nobody is truly sure how many nuclear power plants there are, or how close you really have to be to end up affected by it, or even really what the signs are that some one is being affected. People take down names of others they come across and when you meet someone new you compare in hopes of finding someone you know is still (or at least was) alive…

So to distract themselves they retell episodes of the Simpsons - a show that most people have seen at least one episode of - and can therefore relate to and use to connect with others.

Act two is 7 years later, the cast from act one are rehearsing something - a “commercial”! But it isn’t to sell a product - it’s a scene created to let people pretend that everything is normal. The characters drink Diet Coke and take a warm bath and watch TV. The interesting thing is that these commercials play between episodes of the Simpsons. Over the course of the past 7 years society really latched onto it as a source of familiarity and now there are dozens of theatre troupes who perform episodes. Each event and line of dialogue brought forward from random individuals who remember them and want to contribute… But recently there’s been tension due to the monopoly one group has over Simpsons episodes - actually more than that people have just gotten more bold, more comfortable. Suddenly it was like when the fallout was fresh, when some people “did what they had to” and others maliciously took advantage of the chaos… the scene ends abruptly in the middle of the cast being attacked.

Act three is 75 years after act two. There still isn’t electricity. This is the portion of the show where the musical element really takes hold. It’s also the hardest part of the show to describe… but let’s just say the Simpsons stayed very important (it was very religious in imagery - the whole thing akin to a ritual). The main cast is still here but they don’t play their previous roles - they play characters from the Simpsons (Bart, Lisa, Marge, & Homer Simpson + Itchy, Scratchy, and Mr. Burns). We get to see the episode recounted in Act one in a distorted reenactment that has many ties and metaphors connecting to the fallout from almost a century ago. Along side the cast is an ensemble that watch and interact with the main part of the ritual being performed by the main cast. This act is my favorite part of the show and is so trippy and bizarre to watch.

So, why do I love this show so much?

I love and admire theatre as an art form because it is more than just one - it’s literature, music, art, acting, you name it! People of all different skill sets come together to tell a story - it’s all a bunch of little moving parts to create something remarkable.

But, what I like about theatre is that it’s temporary.

People put in so much time and effort into a performance only a few get to see - and because each and every performance is live no two run throughs are ever exactly the same. Not to mention that every production is going to have different artistic choices! It’s so bittersweet, but exactly what makes it special. I could spend forever trying to retell the production of Mr. Burns I saw but only the people I shared that auditorium with will know what it was actually like to be there… And don’t take that the wrong way! I’m not bragging- I wish I could see that production again and take people to see it - but I can’t. Its on of those experiences anyone can have - fleeting, revolutionary, and dramatically changing but theatre is intentional with it and ultimately no matter what it is the audience that chooses to partake in seeing hours of hardworking before it’s gone.

I love Mr. Burns because so much of what it’s about is rooted in the concept of retelling stories for the sake of others getting the chance to hear them. It explores how the art of storytelling evolved and why people are so compelled people are to do so. Of how even in unsure, dangerous times people want to share, connect, and remember. And on top of it all - it doesn’t attempt to appeal outright to the audience.

I’ve seen people disappointed in lack of actual connection to the Simpsons. Others find certain scenes unnecessary (my own dad thought the entirety of ACT TWO could be cut and the show wouldn’t be different??). At the performance I attended a majority of the audience was empty from the start and before act one was even over that number still dwindled :/

I understand that not everyone has to like anything and everything! I just think that the overall this phenomenon ironically highlights the idea I was mentioned before. The playwright made this story then people brought it to life because they saw value in it and wanted to share - but it is YOU who chooses to be there, to participate, to appreciate.

And it just makes me think about my own experiences/participation with theatre and lack thereof due to my preconceived notion that I didn’t quite fit in there. Especially as I got older - the longer I wait the less experienced I am compared to my peers… But it turns out the only thing keeping me out of theatre wasn’t the lack of room for me to contribute to the story but my own my disconnect/interpretation with what was being presented.

And I think that is rather neat!

Thank you for staying this long! I hope you found the time spent to be worth it and that - if you are so inclined - you go out and see a local theatre production. No matter your experience, I’m sure it’ll make for an interesting story to tell.